Implementation of Mapping Technology to Address Deforestation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

The Office of the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment considered the encroachment of forest resources in the country as an urgent issue to be addressed and resolved. It called for a project with an objective to reduce national deforestation in a systematic approach supported by prominent and immediate information.

Appointed a consultant of the project, CDG Group started with a retrospective basemap, developed with old orthophotos of Thailand’s aerial surveys since 1952 – 1999. This orthophoto basemap combined with modern GPS imagery and ArcGIS technologies demonstrated the changing situation of deforestation and helped prove the owner’s rights on properties as well as accurately legalized forest areas by integrating data from various sources. It was employed to identify a forest boundary in compliance with the original intention of the forest boundary map under the laws, and to prepare information on land ownership (i.e. land of the state property, land of the Agricultural Land Reform Office, land of a cooperative, land of a self-developed community, and land of a private sector) according to the boundary map, for further administration of the Ministry.

In addition, CDG Group worked cooperatively with local authorities in reviewing the forest boundary GPS map to collect information and facts on the legally-declared forest zone, and deliver that information to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for further policy-based application.